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Portugal and Spain are once more recovering from significant flooding in the wake of Storm Claudia delivered heavy rain and strong winds the previous week.

Claudia's Origin and Path

This weather system formed from a low-pressure zone that had beforehand caused unseasonably early chilly and snowy weather through the eastern sectors of Canada and the north-eastern US in early November.

Claudia moved eastward across the Atlantic over the second weekend of November before slowing and stalling to the north-west of the Iberian region, snared in a dip of an ever more meandering air current.

Impact on the Iberian Peninsula

Galicia in north-west Spain was hit first, with three to six inches of rain falling along its west coast in just one full day up to Wednesday night as a leisurely moving system of rain drifted across western parts of the region.

Additional rainfall and electrical storms on Thursday last week brought flooding to Portuguese localities where an older couple died in the city of Lisbon after water from the overflowing Tagus River entered their home as they were asleep.

Unsettled atmospheric states persisted into the weekend, with a tornado tearing through a camping ground and a nearby hotel in Albufeira in the south in the Algarve region on the weekend's Saturday, killing an elderly British lady and injuring 28 individuals.

Wider Effects across Europe

Claudia had wider effects across western Europe. By siphoning heated air from the subtropics, the system contributed to thermometers climbing in southwestern France to nearly 30 degrees Celsius, the nation's all-time high autumn temperature.

By last Friday, this hot and moist atmospheric body met a chilly atmospheric body across the northern areas of Europe, generating a band of rain extending from western Ireland to the Russian Federation.

In the United Kingdom, this stalling band of rain brought record-breaking rain accumulations, causing severe flooding in the principality of Wales.

As this weather phenomenon continues to weaken early this week, the frigid air will move towards the south, delivering to Europe its premier experience of winter.

Simultaneous Occurrences in the state of California

California experienced an "atmospheric river" recently, delivering intense precipitation and strong winds that led to rapid flooding and landslides in regions affected by wildfires earlier this year.

In excess of 50 millimetres of rain was recorded in California's southern part on last Friday, with a another 50 millimetres broadly over the state on Saturday last.

More than 100mm of rain fell over coastal parts of the state's south in total, attaining 200mm overall in areas of elevated terrain.

An atmospheric river is a plume of tropical, saturated air coming from the tropical or subtropical regions.

Burn scar areas including the Pacific Palisades area and the town of Altadena endured the most severe the sudden floods and landslides, forcing residents to flee.

Across California, a 71-year-old man passed away after his automobile was washed off a submerged bridge, and a young girl aged seven and her father were swept into the sea by big swells on the California's Central Coast.